It's Nice, Having Friends
by Kat Ducat
Summary: Luna cures Harry of his rather distracting and depressing thoughts with her own brand of 'magic'. It's a girlfriend's duty to help her friends, isn't it?


_A/N: Written for Lord Harry James Potter's Pairing One Hour Challenge. _

)O(

"Psst, Luna, come here," said a slim figure cowering at the entrance to the girls' dormitories. She was gesticulating wildly towards a pair of robes that had just disappeared through the door to the fifth year boys' dormitory.

Luna, who had been looking into the flickering fire with a look of vague interest on her face (_how did they keep it going even when there was so little wood in? Perhaps there was a creature that could turn the smoke back into a log) _glanced at the girl.

She walked carefully around the many armchairs and back to her friend. Ginny had left Luna sitting next to Ron when Harry had come into the room, claiming she had to go to the loo.

An hour was a long time to spend in a bathroom. Well, unless you were using the prefect's one. But Ginny didn't seem to be very soapy, so Luna didn't think it likely that she'd been busy taking a swim.

Maybe she'd gotten hold of one of the time-turners that the Minister was planning to use to take over his enemies. His Aurors, in the altered state they were in, were probably very susceptible to a small teenage girl who would stare at them until they gave her what she wanted.

Hmm. It would have taken a lot of time to get to the Ministry though. She didn't think Ginny could see Thestrals, so that means of transport was out of the question. But maybe she'd gone there earlier and was already in possession of a time-turner when Harry turned up.

You had to keep an open mind about things if you ever wanted to understand them. 'True until proven false', was Luna's thinking. No-one had ever conclusively disproven it, after all.

Ginny was chattering away to her with a furrow in her brow. She should probably listen, just in case she provided a better explanation.

"…so I really don't want him to be alone. I mean, I'd go talk to him myself if only I knew he'd see me as someone who could be his girlfriend. Will you do it then?"

"I don't see why not. I like talking to Harry."

"Thanks so much Luna. And...while you two are chatting…put in a good word for me, will you?"

"Oh, but Harry knows you're a good person already. I don't think he's forgotten it in the last few days."

"Yeah, but…never mind. I just don't want him to be sad."

"You're a very nice friend, Ginny."

"Erm, thanks. You too."

As Luna waved happily to Ginny and skipped away to the boys' staircase, Ginny sank back into her thoughts. She'd noticed Harry and Cho talking in the Great Hall earlier today, and neither of them had looked very happy. She thought things might be ending for the two of them.

It wouldn't be a surprise, of course. They had never been suited for each other. Cho didn't appreciate, could never appreciate, who he really was. She hadn't felt the pain of abandonment nor the pang of unrequited love. She'd never almost died at the hands of You-Know-Who.

The only thing Cho had that could be described as a connection to Harry was the death of Cedric. But that relationship couldn't have been too serious, and anyway, she didn't see them wanting to talk about it. Ginny had never even kissed the object of her affection.

Even though Cho had no reason or right to be with Harry, that didn't mean Ginny wanted him to be unhappy. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know what he wanted. She'd have to guide him.

It was lucky she had Luna for help. Luna could entertain a person all night with her wild, far-fetched stories of conspiracies and interesting beasts.

Harry would soon forget all about Cho. Probably at around the moment Luna told him about the Giant Squidlemuffles, underwater creatures which could transfigure themselves into any shape that happened to have gills and a propeller.

Every living thing had its quirks. Some were unusually nice, some unusually angsty, some unusually inclined-to-start-crying-at-the-slightest-provocation, and some were just plain inexplicable.

)O(

"Harry, are you in there?" Luna knocked lightly on the dormitory door. She couldn't hear a thing from inside. Maybe Harry owned a time-turner too, and had used it to go back into the past. If he had, he certainly wouldn't be in here now.

"Come in, it's open." There were some snuffling pillow sounds before the voice became easy to understand. As soon as she opened the door, the hangings on a bed in the furthest corner were thrown open, revealing glass-less green eyes squinting blearily at her.

"Oh, it's you. I thought—never mind. What are you doing here Luna?"

"Ginny told me you were feeling lonely. I thought you might want cheering up."

"Thanks but, er, I don't think that now's the right—"

"Do you want me to go?"

"No! Not at all. It's just that I've just had a bit of a disappointing conversation and need some time to think about it."

"Oh. Well then, you can think about it with me."

"Thanks Luna, but I don't think that's going to be very helpful."

"You just need someone to take you mind of things." Luna smiled, strolled over to the bed and perched herself on the edge of it, legs dangling in the air. Ginny had been right. He did need a new girlfriend.

She put her hand on Harry's chest pushed until he gave way and toppled, lying on his back.

"What did you do that for?" he asked, surprised. Luna had never even touched him before, much less put him in a physically compromising position.

"I believe I'm about to take your mind off things. This is what a girlfriend is supposed to do, isn't it?"

"What?! Luna, I don't know what made you think you're my girlfriend, and no offence but you're not exactly the kind of girl I would ask out. Anyway, I already have a girlfriend." Harry tried to push himself back up, but Luna's hand refused to move away from his chest. He was like a turtle stuck on its back.

"I know you've got a girlfriend; you should have as many as you can. Girls are great friends, or at least Ginny is. I don't have many more friends, you see." Luna slipped off her slippers with a wave of her feet and scrambled onto the bed.

"Luna…I don't think 'girlfriend' means what you think it means…"

"It's very simple, I don't think anyone could misunderstand it. It's a girl who's a friend. Stop squirming, you're making it difficult to extract the Wrackspurts."

"What…?" He was lost. Luna was the most confusing creature he'd ever met, and here she was at her best. Nothing she could do in the future would surprise him again. She could never top pinning him down, telling him she was his girlfriend, wriggling with him on the bed and saying she could fix all his problems.

It would be interesting to see what she would do next though. This new record might be very short lived if she did what he thought she would do. She must know _something _about what made girlfriends different from other friends, after all.

Luna's other hand hovered in the air. She moved it away from her body and over Harry's. He realised he had been holding his breath when it drifted over and past his crotch to stop at Harry's head.

With a sudden, violent, movement, Luna snapped her fingers as close to his ear as she could reach, then did the same to the other one.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Instinctually, his own hands flew to his ears to protect them against the sharp noise.

"You can stop worrying now. The Wrackspurts are gone. They might be back though, if you keep seeing Cho. Her head is a real breeding ground for them." Luna arched her back, stretching it, then flopped down on the bed next to Harry.

"Oh. Well thanks. I do feel better."

"That's nice."

"You're nice."

"Your eyes are nice."

"Your earrings are nice. I've always liked those radishes you wear."

"That's very nice of you to say so. Most people just hide them from me."

Harry laughed, then propped his head up on an elbow. He looked at Luna, lying peacefully with her eyes closed, humming gently and making swirl shapes on the bed covers with her fingers.

"You know how you said you were my girlfriend?"

"Mmm."

"Well, some people like to kiss their girlfriends." He grinned.

"I've never kissed anyone before. I think I'd like to."

He needed no more encouragement. Harry dropped his face down to her level and pressed his lips to hers. She puckered them a little, but made no other sign.

When he raised his head back up, he saw her stark blue eyes piercing his.

"What do you think?"

"It was all right, I suppose."

"Oh." Harry sat up sharply and gave Luna a tight smile. What had he been expecting? She was a girl, yes, but that didn't immediately mean it would be terribly pleasant to kiss her. He was a fool.

He suddenly felt soft skin against his cheek, kissing it like a butterfly alighting on a fresh flower. So, she didn't resent him. How nice.

"It was nice talking to you Harry. I hope you feel better."

"Yeah…thanks for that, Luna."

"No problem. I like helping my friends."

"Yeah…"

Luna Lovegood was an extraordinary girl. She had certainly achieved her purpose.

It was nice, having friends.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
